Language Lab, Science Faculty, University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727)

After reading the following article, answer the questions below.

Mathematician and physicist, one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time. Born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, where he attended school, he entered Cambridge University in 1661; he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1667, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1669. He remained at the university, lecturing in most years, until 1696. Of these Cambridge years, in which Newton was at the height of his creative power, he singled out 1665-1666 as "the prime of my age for invention". He was forced to leave Cambridge when it was closed because of the plague and it was during this period that he made some of his most significant discoveries that he was reluctant to publish at the time.
As a firm opponent of the attempt by King James II to make the universities into Catholic institutions, Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament of 1689, and sat again in 1701-1702. Meanwhile, in 1696 he had moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint. He became Master of the Mint in 1699, and was still in office at his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1671, and in 1703 he became President, being annually re-elected for the rest of his life. His major work, Opticks, appeared the next year; he was knighted in Cambridge in 1705.
As Newtonian science became increasingly accepted on the Continent, and especially after a general peace was restored in 1714, following the War of the Spanish Succession, Newton became the most highly esteemed natural philosopher in Europe. Newton refined Galileo’s experimental method, creating the compositional method of experimentation still practised today. In fact, the description of the experimental method from Newton's Optics could easily be mistaken for a modern statement of current methods of investigation, if not for Newton's use of the words ``natural philosophy'' instead of the term ``the physical sciences.''
His last decades were passed in revising his major works, polishing his studies of ancient history, and defending himself against critics, as well as carrying out his official duties. Newton also devoted a majority of his free time later in life (after 1678) to fruitless alchemical experiments, research and trying to date events in the Bible. He was extremely sensitive to criticism, and even ceased publishing until the death of his arch-rival Hooke.

 

1.The text tells us that Newton did a lot of reading during his time at Cambridge University.
True
False

 

2. According to the article, 1665-1666 (line 6) was the period
when he started inventing
when he was at his best when creating
when Science was beginning to flourish
when he was single

 

3. He was forced to leave Cambridge because :
he had the plague
he couldn't publish anything
there was an epidemic
he was unwilling to publish the results of his discoveries

 

4.The text tells us that Newton opposed King James II when he made the universities into Catholic institutions.
True
False

 

5 .Which of the following is true :
he was a Member of Parliament for 13 years
he was a Member of Cambridge Parliament
he was a Member of Parliament from 1689 to 1702
he was a Member of Parliament twice.

 

6. "He was still in office at his death" means that :
he was still Master of the Mint when he died
he died in church
he died as soon as he had become Master of the Mint
He died in an office in 1727

 

7. Newton was the first to use the term “the physical sciences"
True
False

 

 

8. Which of the following can be implied from the last paragraph? (more than one answer is possible)
Hooke died before Newton did
Hooke was a better scientist than Newton
Newton published again after Hooke's death
Newton stopped publishing when Hooke died

 

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